(Vatican News/Agencies): Rescuers continued to dig through the rubble of thousands of building and freezing temperatures, searching for survivors following two earthquakes in succession—7.8 and 7.5 magnitude— that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6.
Media reported on February 10 hat the death toll had already risen to some 21,000 dead with some 20,426 reportedly injured. Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency reported that at 11,000 buildings collapsed, with media reporting over 1,500 deaths and 3,548 injured in Syria af February 9.
Pope Francis expressed his deep sadness to learn of the huge loss of life, Vatican News reported.
In separate telegrammes signed on his behalf by Vatican secretary of state, Pietro Cardinal Parolin, the pope offered words of condolence and asked the apostolic nuncios, Archbishjop Marek Solczynski in Turkey, and Mario Cardinal Zenari in Syria, to send his assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected.
Chancery Notice – Fund-raising for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria
Pope Francis entrusted “those who died to the loving mercy of the Almighty” and sent his “heartfelt condolences to those who mourn their loss.”
He said he “prays that the emergency personnel will be sustained in their care of the injured and in the ongoing relief efforts by the divine gifts of fortitude and perseverance.”
The pope also expressed a “renewed sign of his spiritual solidarity” for the “long-suffering Syrian people.”
The epicentre of the first earthquake—which struck at 04:17 local time—was located near Gaziantep, an important industrial and manufacturing district close to the Turkey-Syria border. The city is also home to countless refugees from Syria’s decade-old civil war.
Turkey – which sits on the East Anatolian fault – is in one of the world’s most volatile earthquake zones.
OSV News reported that in Syria, the Syrian Civil Defense—commonly known as The White Helmets—said via Twitter, “the toll may increase as many families are still trapped. Our teams are on the ground searching for survivors & removing the dead from the rubble.”
The quake was felt as far away as Cairo and woke people up in Beirut and in Damascus, Syria. In Syria, it hit the region divided between government-held territory and Syria’s last enclave held by the opposition forces. Those also affected by the quake are refugees that escaped the conflict in Syria to Turkey.
In a February 6 telephone interview with OSV News, Giulia Longo, programme manager of Caritas Turkey and director of its office in Anatolia, said the earthquake devastated the agency’s diocesan offices in Iskanderun.
“Our diocese has been destroyed, the diocesan office has been damaged beyond repair, the church is no longer there,” Longo said.
Longo, is now working to coordinate relief efforts with Caritas Internationalis and its affiliates OSV News reported.
Chaldean Catholic Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, told Vatican News that he had never seen such destruction in war-torn Syria. “There was a strong fear and now the people are in the street, in the cold and under the rain,” he said. “There is damage everywhere, even in the cathedral. The libraries are destroyed, the houses crumbled. It’s an apocalyptic situation.”
Archbishop Jean Abdo Arbach of Homs, said that the 30 seconds the earthquake lasted “completely changed the lives of thousands of people.”
The archbishop said, “Let us hope the earthquake shakes open the hearts of the international communities and of all world leaders, so that they help Syria and do not forget the people who are suffering.”
Caritas Internationalis, began a fundraising campaign for relief efforts in Turkey and Syria.
The international community including the US, Japan, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, the EU, has been quick to offer assistance, media reported.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, also offered to provide “the necessary assistance” to Turkey, whose combat drones are helping Kyiv fight the Russian invasion, UCAN reported.
Thee UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that emergency response teams from the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination, the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group and the WHO’s Emergency Medical Teams were being mobilized, CNN reported on February 7.
